State Rep. Jessyn Farrell, a Pro-Transit Urbanist, Is ALSO Running for Mayor

This morning, Rep. Jessyn Farrell, who represents Seattle’s 46th district covering northeast Seattle, announced her candidacy for mayor on a Wallingford sidewalk alongside her husband and children.

Farrell, who was elected to the legislature in 2012, was the former Executive Director of the Transportation Choices Coalition, an urbanist, pro-mass transit advocacy group that has advocated on behalf of buses and light rail, among other things. In the state legislature, where she is the Vice Chair of the house Transportation Committee and sits on the Commerce and Gaming and Rules Committee, she has lobbied for investments in bike, rail, and pedestrian transportation infrastructure, and affordable housing near light rail stations.

At her side-walk announcement, Farrell reportedly pitched her knowledge of transit and land use as a unique attribute of her candidacy, and said that Seattle needs “more density” in its urban planning.

She grew up in the 46th district, where she attended public schools and eventually got her bachelor of arts from the University of Washington and a law degree from Boston College.

Farrell faces a crowded field in the mayor race. Democratic State Senator Bob Hasegawa (who represents the 11th district, which covers Beacon Hill) announced earlier this week and former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan formally threw her hat in the ring at press conference held earlier today at the Pacific Medical Center on Beacon Hill.